In this article I look at the effects of using Pokemon that are "above average" right out of the egg.
After the short exercise with the Zigzagoons I decided to look through my Eevees and try to find some with the same nature and similar starting scores. With the aid of the old man at the Battle Frontier I found two excellent candidates!
The first Pokemon I named "Hippy"
Gentle nature, boy
Abilities: 22/12/9/10/15/10 = 78
The second I named "Speedy"
Gentle Nature, girl
Abilities: 21/10/9/11/14/12 = 77
note: Gentle nature is Sp Def+/Def-
Right from the start we see these two Pokemon are near identical in total ability points but, this is what the old man said about each one:
Hippy - "This one, overall, I would describe as having better-than-average ability. Incidentally, the best aspect of it, I would say, is its ATTACK... That stat is outstanding!"
Speedy - "This one, overall, I would describe as having better-than-average ability. Incidentally, the best aspect of it, I would say, is its HP... That stat is quite impressive"
I started by feeding Hippy 10 vitamins to increase his base HP effort points and I gave Speedy 10 vitamins to increase her base SPEED effort points. I then gave them both 10 of each vitamin to fill up their Special Attack and Special Defense effort points. Next, I went to training them!
This is where I encountered a problem.
Speedy evolved into an Espeon at level 9 while Hippy did not evolve until level 10. This caused Hippy to gain less points for gaining one level.
By the time they reached level 30, this is where they stood:
Hippy: 93/55/40/96/90/72 = 446
Speedy: 87/48/42/100/86/81 = 444
At last check they were on level 41:
Hippy: 123/73/54/129/122/97 = 598
Speedy: 116/64/56/135/116/109 = 596
It looks like the one level evolution slip has cost Speedy a one point drop in total ability score points when compared to Hippy. However, it is also clear that Hippy's ATTACK score has always been higher than Speedy's, which is in line with what the old man said.
Speedy has maintained a good 10 point lead over Hippy in the SPEED department and HP has been very close ( +/- 7 point spread) which may be due to Speedy's "impresive" starting HP ability.
Well, these two have just made it to level 50
Hippy: 149/89/64/157/147/118 = 724
Speedy: 139/77/68/164/140/132 = 720
Interesting. Hippy has widened his two point lead to four points. Speedy now has a 14 point advantage over Hippy in SPEED while Hippy has Speedy by 10 points in HP. I still belive the reason why th HP scores are closer than the SPEED scores is because of what the old man said about Speedy.
The remaining 50 levels that they need to gain *will* take me some time to accomplish. As eveyone knows, the first 50 levels are only 10% of the total experience points your Pokemon must gain before reaching level 100.
PS: I have a problem. One of my newly hatched Eevees was said to be "impresive" in ability by the old man. This puts this Pokemon in a better class than even these two. Any suggestions on how I should evolve it?
These two Pokemon have now reached level 82:
Hippy: 237/142/103/254/238/190 = 1164
Speedy: 222/123/108/266/227/214 = 1160
The "4 point spread" has remained between these two but what you might find most striking is the disparity between their respective ATTACK scores.
Hippy now has a whopping 19 point advantage over Speedy in the ATTACK score! It is important to note that neither Pokemon was given any extra training in regards to ATTACK.
Hippy's lead on HIT POINTS has still been closely followed by Speedy giving Hippy only a 15 point advantage. In regards to SPEED though, Speedy has a large 24 point advantage. Aside from those three scores the remainder of their scores are more-or-less on par with each other, there are no large imbalances to report on.
The remaining 18 levels to level 100 will take some time to cover, please stay tuned for further updates!